Part 1: The lowdown on Lowbrow

Tell us about your background in writing, marketing and advertising.
Well, like most wordsmiths, I've been writing since I was a kid. In terms of writing on a professional level, I guess that came about a couple of years ago. Essentially, while working as an editor for ChannelSeven.com, I began to write stories in addition to my site copywriting and other editorial tasks.

That position also served as my formal introduction to the ad and marketing industry, although I firmly believe that any sentient being in this society has more advertising and marketing related knowledge than he may think. As your readers might know, ChannelSeven covers online advertising and marketing related topics.

When and why did you decide to start Lowbrow Lowdown?
The Lowbrow Lowdown had its roots in a blog-like column (probably inspired by Dave Pell's Internet news column on ClickZ) that I started while still at ChannelSeven. It was called kateClips.

Basically, I compiled stories gleaned through my regular work-related research and reading. Anything that seemed of interest to the site's readers got a synopsis paragraph or two, and was usually accompanied by some witty, yet most likely indulgent, comment from me.

To make a long story short, I left ChannelSeven to pursue my freelance writing career (it was a year just recently -- mid May) and part of my plans involved self-publishing a column similar to kateClips that would be called The Lowbrow Lowdown.

Syndication was always the goal. That is, getting paid more for the same amount of time and effort on my part was the (perhaps delusional) mission. To tell you the truth, I didn't think I'd be making any money off the thing for at least a year.

For those who've never read an issue, can you describe a typical edition: format, content, style etc. How long does it take you to put together an issue?
Well, I call it ad and marketing commentary with bite. I like to think of it as a pleasure read that just about anybody with a sense of humor would dig. Like I said before, we all have experience with advertising and marketing, not just ad industry folk, and I try to write the column for a general audience because of that.

Essentially, through my daily reading, radio listening, and other contact with media, I gather stories that involve some advertising, marketing, or sometimes PR related subject matter. It sounds boring, right? It's actually, if I do say so my humble self, quite the opposite.

I make sure I choose stories (usually between four and six) that lend themselves to some sort of insightful commentary. I probably end up deciding against anywhere from three to ten column candidates each week. The format is pretty much always the same. Like I said, there's about 5 sections, one for each story I choose to cover.

I tend to start out with some silly or intriguing lead to set up the story coverage. I pepper a story overview (including quotes here and there) with commentary. That's where my undeniably critical self comes through. I try to go for irreverent, acerbic, and/or humorous, but I almost always try to write something that'll get people thinking.

All in all, writing the column can take anywhere from six to nine or ten hours. It runs around 1500 to 2,000 words, so that probably (to writing pros) sounds like an exorbitant amount of time. I'm one of those freaks who agonizes over what the most appropriate wording is, plus there's often a bit of research involved that I use to supplement the story content itself.

What makes a good LL story? Any recent favorites?
A good Lowbrow story first of all, must have an ad/marketing/PR angle. Other than that, just about anything goes. I don't, however, cover the business stories that industry people are bound to read. In other words, you won't read coverage of an article on the merger of two ad agencies, or the move toward pay for performance in the Web ad world.

The stories have to be interesting, off-the-wall, humorous, that sort of thing. I tend to go for the "what will these marketers think of next" type of stuff.

Hmmm...recent favorites...well, I always like the stories with cultural and political angles the best. One that really blew me away recently discussed Foodfight, an upcoming movie that literally stars real-world brand spokes-characters who come to life once the supermarket closes.

In my commentary, I refer to it as a "blatant attempt to smooch a little brand manager butt." It's pretty much an extended ad, even though those involved, obviously, say otherwise. Can you imagine paying to see Mr. Clean and Chester Cheetah swapping cheesy one-liners? The idea that a film like this would come to fruition and that the producers expect people to pay to see it, is a sad commentary on our society, that's for sure.

LL isn't just well-written, it looks sharp too. Are you responsible for the site's layout, especially those clever graphics that grace each article?
Wow! I love the praise, but I'll admit, I never thought of the site as particularly sharp. Yep, I'm responsible for the whole site. I built it from scratch and maintain it. Knowledgeable coders won't find that hard to believe when they check out the faulty code! I also create all the silly images and captions that accompany the stories. That part's always more fun than work.

Continued...